Gaia is the standout track for me- Ocean Machine is my favourite album and I think Gaia is the closest sound to OM since 1998... Judgement into A Simple Lullaby is absolutely stunning! Instumental Dev at his mind-blowing best!

I've listened to it through once and gave myself 24 hours to think about it. (played Gaia and Let it Roll again just to make sure I really DID hear something that awesome).

I can say, without any hint of doubt, that this is the best thing I have heard since I first listened to Terria. It just blew me away. Vampira and Babysong I'm not 100% sold on yet, but after about 1000 listens I'll be able to make a decent call on what I really think. Now I must flee to listen to this lil bugger again.

i was at the record store in the city, and i was talking to a girl working there about synchestra and she said she didnt like the babysong, and i just replied "WHAT? are you crazy?" i didnt even think about it. it was like i have an autonomic dev defense system! or a ADDS

Y'know, there's something about those two songs, A Simple Lullabye and Judgement that just doesn't grab me. After Gaia and Pixillate and then with Sunset and Notes From Africa coming, they just sorta pale in comparison for me. This is a really great album, all told, though.

Cav, you hit it on the head. I love the first four songs and how they flow. And, Pixillate is a monster!

Judgement & A Simple Lullaby do get much better with repeated listens. I think they take longer to digest because they both contain elements unexpected in a DTB record, which jar at first listen. Judgement has the very Black Metal-esque section near the beginning, and the overdubbed crowd in Lullaby does sound very odd (Dare I say cheesy?)

They do work in context, though - I've been developing a theory that in many ways, Synchestra is a conceptual remake of/sequel to Terria; whereas Terria was about the looming onset of age, Synchestra is about the confusion it brings on arrival, and the processes one goes through to come to terms with it.

I haven't fully formed this interpretation yet (Def not enough to put the whole lot down just yet), but to me those two songs represent the internal truths you face with age: recognition of your sins and mistakes (Judgement), and looking back on the innocence you now have to leave behind (Lullaby: I get the impression that the crowd noises refer to Dev making some kind of peace with the idea of rock stardom, either that which he now has or maybe the kind that he might have wanted and never attained)

Of course, some of this stuff has been mentioned by Dev himself, but that's how those songs fit into my own interpretation of the album. To me, this section is meant to be a lull, a reflective period that allows the breakthrough to be made from Sunset on.

Hey Guys!!! Been a long ass time. It's cool to see that this forum is still the best ever! I just had to come here to hear everyones two cents about the new album, and put itnsome of my two cents. Synchestra is amazing and when I heard the polka track it blew my mind. I always wanted to hear Devin do polka. Now I can die happy.

Everyone take it easy.

You have already grasped that Sisyphus is the absurd hero. He is, as much through his passions as through his torture. His scorn of the gods, his hatred of death, and his passion for life won him that unspeakable penalty in which the whole being is exerted toward accomplishing nothing. This is the price that must be paid for the passions of this earth.- Camus